An Innovative Approach to Cultural Dialogue for Greater Insight and Influence in Policymaking
Cultural Conversations, an innovative program directed by Azar Nafisi, will be fully launched in 2009 and will serve as a stimulating forum for U.S. and international scholars. We propose to provide an alternative and autonomous space, independent of a specific political agenda, through a lecture series, educational workshops, graduate level courses and a regular newsletter. Cultural Conversations will include new and innovative methods of cultural dialogue, through online documentation of eyewitness accounts of the meaningful and impassioned stories behind the news reports, an on-line book discussion on specific themes that are relevant to current events and policy formation, a lecture series that highlights the role that many different cultures play in the broader understanding of politics and global society, graduate-level curriculum for interdisciplinary courses co-taught by a professor of social science and a professor of literature that address the role of fiction as both a reflection and subversion of political reality, and an on-line newsletter that will update members and the public on the activities of the project. | 
